Hoërskool Randburg roars to victory
Randjies coach Etienne Engelbrecht explained both teams were motivated to play in front of their friends, family and alumni.
It was a clean sweep for Hoërskool Randburg (Randjies) as they dominated and won all the games in the big rugby derby against Hoërskool Linden (Lindeniete).
The Randjies hosted the 2024 derby and won the FNB Classic Clashes Cup, derby trophy and, most importantly, the bragging rights against their arch-rivals.
The cheering of thousands of voices from learners, their families and friends chanted war cries and shouted support during the games.
The stands were divided into two – a sea of blue for Randburg and green for Linden, as the players gave it their all on the field.
The derby was one-sided as all of Randburg’sfirst teams and second teams won their respective matches in their age bracket. They kicked off with the A-team being on display recording three home wins as U14 won 36–7, U15 won 19–10, and U16 had a field day as they easily won 21–0.
The second-team players also showed why they are a force to be reckoned with, as they cruised to victory by winning 47–0.
Both teams left it all on the field in the final match of the derby. The Randtjies struck first with a try and the conversion getting all seven points in the first half. The visitors worked hard to get back in the game.
The Linden learners and parents rallied behind their team, and they scored a well-taken try but failed to equal the score as they missed the conversion (7–5).
Randburg hit back and took the score up to 14–5 in the first half. The Lindeniete refused to make things easy for Randburg as they converted all three of their penalties to level the score 14–14.
Randjies hit back with three tries towards the end of the match to break the Linden supporters’ hearts and took their score to 33–14. By running in five tries to one they made it a five out of five on the rugby field for the second year in a row.
Randjies coaches Etienne Engelbrecht and Francois Vosloo agreed that it was a tough game and both schools played a good game of rugby.
Engelbrecht explained that the derby is a tradition that goes back many years and both teams – when they play here – set the bar two to three levels higher than they usually do.
“Both teams want to produce on the day the best rugby they possible can. They want to perform and play well in front of the community of Randburg.”
Vosloo added that Linden has a very good first team and they knew it was going to be a tough match.
“This was like a cup final for us. Linden always plays better against us. It was really in the last 15 minutes where things came together for us. The first half was a bit shaky; we made a few mistakes, but we were able to come back and get three tries in the second half.”
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